Starting on the Carretera Austral

Along the Carretera Austral

OK, recap time as things have been a bit crazy.

I met Jen at the Balmecada airport.  Her bags found Santiago to their liking and stayed there for an extra hour or two.  We packed up and almost headed out on Thursday, but pouring rain changed our minds.  We left on Friday instead and have been riding for two days through glacial valleys with waterfalls dropping into green meadows.  The first day and a half was paved and now we're heading into 400km of ripio (gravel road) -- starting with 20km of construction as they exchange gravel for asphalt.  The plan is to pave the entire Carretera Austral, working their way out from the major cities along the way.

Jen has been a trooper so far, She's slower than the rest of us, but I'm sure she'll get used to her bike and that will change.  She's maintaining a very chipper attitude and going out of her way to ensure that she doesn't make herself a burden.  I don't think that she will, though she had expressed concerns about as we were emailing before she joined us.  I just hope that the dirt and weight of her bike don't kill her spirits as they almost did for me.

It's raining harder outside.  Someday I'm going to have to pay for all this good weather karma.  Hopefully not too soon!  I should explain that we got rooms in Mañihuales as Chip's jacket came off the back of their bike at some point today and they had to go back to retrieve it.  We agreed to meet here and, as it was raining, Jen and I made the executive decision and got rooms.  A good call!

Oh!  Shower's open.  Gotta go!